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A 1972 agreement between Canada and the United States reduce [#permalink]

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31 Aug 2004, 23:51

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A 1972 agreement between Canada and the United States reduced the amount of phosphates that municipalities had been allowed to dump into the Great Lakes.

(A) reduced the amount of phosphates that municipalities had been allowed to dump(B) reduced the phosphate amount that municipalities had been dumping(C) reduces the phosphate amount municipalities have been allowed to dump(D) reduced the amount of phosphates that municipalities are allowed to dump(E) reduces the amount of phosphates allowed for dumping by municipalities

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Re: A 1972 agreement between Canada and the United States [#permalink]

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26 Apr 2012, 05:08

Correct answew should be D IMO and here is why

A) reduced the amount of phosphates that municipalities had been allowed to dump(B) reduced the phosphate amount that municipalities had been dumping(C) reduces the phosphate amount municipalities have been allowed to dump(D) reduced the amount of phosphates that municipalities are allowed to dump(E) reduces the amount of phosphates allowed for dumping by municipalities_________________

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Hi All,A 1972 agreement between Canada and the United States reduced the amount of phosphate that municipalities had been allowed to dump into the Great Lakes.

The intended meaning of the sentence is that till 1972, municipalities were allowed to dump a certain amount of phosphate into the Great Lakes. However, a 1972 agreement between Canada and the US reduced this amount.

The only error in this sentence is the use of past perfect tense “had been allowed”. Let us understand how. Per the sentence, the agreement reduced the amount that municipalities were allowed to dump. Now in this sentence, the verb tense - past perfect tense - had been allowed - is incorrect because it non-sensically implies that municipalities were allowed to dump a certain amount sometime in the past - (they are no longer allowed to dump now, since the action is already completed) and then the next event in the past happened - the agreement reduced this amount. It is not possible to reduce an amount for something that has already happened (had been allowed).

Process of Elimination

Choice A: Incorrect for the reason discussed above.

Choice B: reduced the phosphate amount that municipalities had been dumping. Incorrect. Per this choice the agreement itself did the action of "reduce". This cannot be true because the agreement cannot reduce the amount of phosphates dumped by municipalities. The agreement can only provide limits for this amount. The municipalities have to then take appropriate actions to reduce their emissions to meet the new allowable limits. Removal of “allow” distorts the meaning of the sentence. Also, this choice has the same verb tense issue as in choice A.

Choice C: reduces the phosphate amount municipalities have been allowed to dump. Incorrect. Since agreement took place in 1972, use of present tense “reduces” is incorrect. Also, this sentence states a general fact about the amount of phosphate the municipalities are allowed to dump. This must be stated in the simple present tense. Use of present perfect tense “have been allowed” to state a general fact is not correct.

Choice D: reduced the amount of phosphates that municipalities are allowed to dump. Correct. This choice conveys the intended meaning. In general, the municipalities are allowed to dump a certain amount of phosphate. However, an agreement between Canada and the US reduced that amount in 1972.

Choice E: reduces the amount of phosphates allowed for dumping by municipalities. Incorrect. This choice has the same verb tense error as in choice C. Use of “for” after “allowed” is unidiomatic.

1. Understand the intended meaning of the sentence.2. Past perfect tense denotes that the action is already over.3. Be careful of the choices that remove certain words present in the original choice. Such removals may change the meaning of the sentence.

Re: A 1972 agreement between Canada and the United States [#permalink]

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03 Jun 2012, 02:30

VeritasPrepBrian wrote:

Hey guys,

Interesting debate - with verb tense errors I firmly believe that logic plays a huge role in your ability to make tough decisions. When looking at the choices, ask yourself "is it possible the events happened in this order?".

Here, is it possible that this law reduced "the amount that municipalities (PREVIOUSLY) had been able to dump"? Remember, "had been" means "before the past-tense event". A law can't retroactively change something like an amount - whatever these cities dumped is already dumped. so "had been" logically doesn't make sense for any of these.

The fact that we're anchored in 1972 at the beginning of the sentence means that we're stuck with the past-tense "reduced" and not "reduces", so that narrows us down to D, the only choice that sets a logical timeline for these events.

thanks Brian i have some doubt about A and D but your analysis has cleared all my doubt
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02 Nov 2012, 02:38

A 1972 agreement between Canada and the United States reduced the amount of phosphates that municipalities had been allowed to dump into the Great Lakes.

(A) reduced the amount of phosphates that municipalities had been allowed to dump (B) reduced the phosphate amount that municipalities had been dumping (C) reduces the phosphate amount municipalities have been allowed to dump (D) reduced the amount of phosphates that municipalities are allowed to dump (E) reduces the amount of phosphates allowed for dumping by municipalities

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04 Nov 2012, 02:04

Sachin9 wrote:

A 1972 agreement between Canada and the United States reduced the amount of phosphates that municipalities had been allowed to dump into the Great Lakes.

(A) reduced the amount of phosphates that municipalities had been allowed to dump (B) reduced the phosphate amount that municipalities had been dumping (C) reduces the phosphate amount municipalities have been allowed to dump (D) reduced the amount of phosphates that municipalities are allowed to dump (E) reduces the amount of phosphates allowed for dumping by municipalities

This is 2012.. muncipalities have been dumping since years immemorial. . in 1972, an agreement was passed that reduced something back then... not now. .

Am I correct?

and Please also let us know the right usage of 'had been' with some examples. .

Sachin,

'are' allowed to dump is correct because the 1972-agreement is still in effect. Hence, 'were' changes the meaning and is wrong. Though it is 2012, municipalities are still not allowed to dump more than x amount of phosphates because of the agreement.

Does this make sense?

For your second question, 'had been' refers to a time (A) in the past before another time (B) in the past such that A is before B. Take a look at this example:

Harry had been reading a book before his friend arrived...................A.......................................B......... ----> Timeline

Both the events 'reading' and 'arrived' are past. More importantly, considering the timeline, A happened before B. The event that is more in the past gets the 'had been' prefixed to it. Thus, 'had been reading'.

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Per the context of the sentence, we know that the municipalities were allowed to dump a certain amount of phosphate in the Great Lakes. This was a fixed amount, say 200 pounds per month. This is a specific amount. Hence, use of singular “amount” is absolutely correct here.

Re: A 1972 agreement between Canada and the United States [#permalink]

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13 Dec 2012, 08:01

egmat wrote:

Hi All

the verb tense - past perfect tense - had been allowed - is incorrect because it non-sensically implies that municipalities were allowed to dump a certain amount sometime in the past - (they are no longer allowed to dump now, since the action is already completed) and then the next event in the past happened - the agreement reduced this amount. It is not possible to reduce an amount for something that has already happened (had been allowed).

Hi shradhaI am confused when you say both A and B has the same tense error i.e. the job is no more done...

I advised him because I had done the job in the past.<<<It means i am not doing that job>>>I advised him because I had been doing it.<<<It means i am doing the job>>> or <<<I am no more doing the job>>>

Also what is the difference between "reduced the amount of phosphate" and "reduced the phosphate amount.."

Can we blindly infer that with which ever action "had" is used that will mean that action itself is over.......

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Re: A 1972 agreement between Canada and the United States [#permalink]

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30 Dec 2012, 09:03

A – No necessity to change the tense. Eliminate.B – Amount of phosphate is better than phosphate amount. Eliminate C – Same as BD – Same tense. KeepE – “that are” allowed for dumping is better. Plus its passive. Eliminate

Re: A 1972 agreement between Canada and the United States [#permalink]

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30 Dec 2012, 09:04

A – No necessity to change the tense. Eliminate.B – Amount of phosphate is better than phosphate amount. Eliminate C – Same as BD – Same tense. KeepE – “that are” allowed for dumping is better. Plus its passive. Eliminate

Re: A 1972 agreement between Canada and the United States [#permalink]

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30 Dec 2012, 09:05

A – No necessity to change the tense. Eliminate.B – Amount of phosphate is better than phosphate amount. Eliminate C – Same as BD – Same tense. KeepE – “that are” allowed for dumping is better. Plus its passive. Eliminate

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16 Mar 2013, 07:50

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1. A 1972 agreement between Canada and the United States reduced the amount of phosphates that municipalities had been allowed to dump into the Great Lakes.

(A) reduced the amount of phosphates that municipalities had been allowed to dump(B) reduced the phosphate amount that municipalities had been dumping(C) reduces the phosphate amount municipalities have been allowed to dump(D) reduced the amount of phosphates that municipalities are allowed to dump(E) reduces the amount of phosphates allowed for dumping by municipalities

The correct answer is A. Why not B or D ?
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first of all the part of the sentence must be always underlined. Thanks

Secondly: 1000 series is not a good resource to study at all.

B is wron because the right verbe tense is had been allowed to dump not dumping

D is wrong because it seems to suggest that the permission to municipalities is given by itself and not by an agreement. The verb must point out to the real subject of the sentece: the agreement NOT municipalities

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16 Mar 2013, 17:28

i strongly feel that D sud be the answer . in fact A is wrong !!A gives a nonsensical meaning that the agreement of 1972 reduced some thing that these countries had dumped in the past !! u can reduce the amount of something that these countries are dumping at the moment and not of something that they had dumped

Quote:

carcass wrote:D is wrong because it seems to suggest that the permission to municipalities is given by itself and not by an agreement. The verb must point out to the real subject of the sentece: the agreement NOT municipalities

no where it is suggesting such a meaning !! in fact all that D means is that some agreement reduced the amount of some blah blah thing that these municipalities are allowed to dump